Out of 11,742 SC and OBC students preparing for examinations in coaching institutions, only 1,300 students were selected, said the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on September 16.
Member of Parliament Partap Singh Bajwa questioned Minister of State (MoS) Rattan Lal Kataria about the number and performance of SC and OBC students who had enrolled in coaching institutions for different competitive exams. He also asked about the number of students who had enjoyed the Pre-Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme since 2016. The PMS is a Centrally-sponsored scheme that supports SC parents and seeks to improve participation of their children studying in Classes 9 and 10 of the pre-matric stage.
Accordingly, MoS Kataria listed the total number of reserved slots in coaching institutions across India from 2016-17 to 2019-20. The presented data showed that Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of successful SC and OBC students at 214 out of 600 enrolled students. Delhi was second highest in this regard with 204 out of 2050 enrolled students passing exams. Delhi also had the highest number of enrolled participants.
Tripura recorded 300 enrolled students but reported that no student had passed the competitive exams. Similarly, while Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha reported 400 students, 1100 students and 292 students respectively, they failed to report how many students had successfully cleared examinations.
Haryana also showed poor performance with only five students recorded to have passed exams out of the 300 students enrolled in the last four years.
Regarding beneficiaries under the PMS scheme, the Ministry said that 28,09,542 students were provided this scholarship in 2019-20. In 2018-19, as many as 26,30,366 students benefited from this scheme. 2018-19 recorded 3,48,112 students more than 2017-18 figures that recorded 22,82,254 beneficiaries.
In 2018, SabrangIndia reported on the importance of pro-minority schemes like PMS and their decline in then Poll-Bound States.
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